Brady Singer has to work around first-game jitters as Kansas City Royals beat Angels
Overly amped and not under control. Those were the two key components of Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Brady Singer’s first inning on Monday.
Singer committed a throwing error in the first when he had a runner caught stealing between first and second base. Later in the inning, he threw home wildly on a fielder’s choice as the runner scored, but an out was recorded at second base as the batter attempted to advance. Singer also threw a wild pitch in that inning.
“The first was tough,” Singer said. “I think I was a little too jacked up to get out there, trying to be a little too quick. I was trying to slow it down and get it under control. I feel like I definitely did in the second and there towards the start of the third. I felt good towards the end. The first was a little rough.”
The Royals bounced back from the early deficit behind an offensive outburst in the middle innings that included two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth as they recorded an 8-5 spring training win over the Los Angeles Angels in front of an announced 4,567 at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
Seuly Matias and Vinnie Pasquantino hit home runs. Kyle Isbel tripled and scored a run. Edward Olivares (3 for 3, stolen base, RBI) and Ryan O’Hearn (3 for 5, double, 2 RBI) had three hits apiece to lead the way.
Singer finished his first Cactus League outing of the spring having allowed one unearned run on one hit and two walks in two innings. He struck out two. He threw 34 pitches with 17 strikes.
He felt like he settled in after the rocky first inning. He retired the side in order in the second on a grounder, a strikeout and a lineout.
“Just go out there under control,” Singer said of his main takeaway from the outing. “Like I said, I was jacked up in the first. That’s the first outing in a long time. After the lockout, we’ve been wanting to get after it. I was talking to [pitching coach] Cal [Eldred] about kind of controlling it from the start, commanding it early.”
Singer, the 2018 first-round draft pick, made a career-high 27 starts last season to rank second on the team. He went 5-10 with a 4.91 ERA, 131 strikeouts and a 1.55 WHIP in 128 1/3 innings.
Royals manager Mike Matheny and Singer both saw encouraging signs with Singer’s changeup usage, something that has been a focus since his days in the minors.
“I think he had a little trouble getting the timing on his fastball,” Matheny said. “He was kind of pulling off it. That’s the first time we’ve seen it really cut. Usually it’s too much sink where he can’t really control it. But it was cutting on him a bit. He made a good adjustment to get himself back into the zone. … Fortunately, we had a lot of offense to help make up for some of the things we weren’t able to do on the mound.”
Short show
Los Angeles Angels pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, the reigning American League MVP, pitched the first 2 1/3 innings on Monday. He struck out five and didn’t walk a batter.
He allowed one run on three hits, including Isbel’s triple to right-center in the third and Olivares’ RBI single against the draw-in infield to score Isbel.
Ohtani did not bat in Monday’s game.
Last season, Ohtani enjoyed a historic season as a two-way player. He hit 46 home runs, 26 doubles, scored 103 runs, drew 96 walks, stole 26 bases and registered 100 RBIs as a hitter. On the mound, he went 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA, 156 strikeouts in 130 1/3 innings and held opposing hitters to a .207 batting average in 23 starts.
Former Kansas State pitcher Eric Torres took over in relief of Ohtani in the third inning. Torres pitched 2/3 scoreless innings with one strikeout.
Next up
The Royals list left-handers Angel Zerpa and Jake Brenz as well as right-handers Jonathan Heasley, Scott Barlow and Josh Staumont as probables for Tuesday’s game against the Oakland Athletics in Surprise.
Heasley started the club’s Cactus League opener on Friday, but the rest of the probable pitchers have yet to appear in a Cactus League game this spring.
